


Past Lessons

by Ceridawn



Series: Neutral Evil Is Not Mutually Exclusive With Love [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Essek Week (Critical Role), Gen, also essek totally created those time orb things, beau just wants squishy wizards to be slightly less squishy, essek does not just teach the might nein, they teach him too sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceridawn/pseuds/Ceridawn
Summary: Sometimes Essek is the one learning.
Relationships: The Mighty Nein & Essek Thelyss
Series: Neutral Evil Is Not Mutually Exclusive With Love [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682158
Comments: 16
Kudos: 88
Collections: Essek Week





	Past Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5 of Essek week. Mostly the teaching prompt, with a bit of invention snuck in with his time orbs (name still pending). A bit of larger plot starts sneaking in at the end.

Essek sat alone in his study, holding an orb in his left hand. A quick pulse of magic was all he needed to activate it, revealing to himself what he had chosen to store inside.

Nothing, for a moment. Then light began to shine from it as images formed in its depths.

_Nott, hands careful and deft as she shifted the beaker above the flame. She was demonstrating how to make a simple but potent acid. Essek had never made acid before. If he needed it, is was always simple enough to acquire. No one questioned why a rising prodigy turned Shadowhand would require such a thing. Rosohna had plenty of alchemists. Nott was the first to offer to show him how it was made._

_Fjord seemed an odd mix off arrogance and embarrassment as he demonstrated yet another type of knot. Essek had, quite honestly, never given much thought to such things. He had tied few ropes by hand. His own elvish fingers looked awkward as he first began to duplicate Fjord's practiced motions._

_Beauregard truly seemed incapable of taking no for an answer. He was a magical prodigy, capable of bending the laws of reality to his whim. He did not need to know how to punch someone. That perfectly reasonable argument did not in any way affect the monk, who insisted that "Squishy wizards need to be able to do something if someone got close when more punchy people weren't around." He took some comfort from the fact that Caleb was not taking to the lesson any better than himself._

_Caduceus calmly explaining the proper way to prepare leaves to boil. Essek was only familiar with the mushroom and moss teas most commonly found in the city. While he had had tea brewed from leaves before, he had never been to one to prepare it. Listening and watching as the firbolg demonstrated was oddly soothing._

_Lyrical was the best description of the words leaving Caleb's lips. Essek had never seen the need to learn the language, simply being able to cast Comprehend Languages should he wish to read a tome written in Celestial. But hearing it now, that seemed slightly foolish. It was a beautiful language to hear in a way that could not be expressed when it was just symbols on a page. How lucky, that Caleb was willing to teach him._

_There was something unusually solemn about Jester as she showed him a set of cards, many of which blank. He could have told her that dunamancy would be better at showing possibilities than a deck of cards. Instead he listened, noting that there were places she faltered. Something she was still learning. How lovely of her, to give him the chance to learn as well._

_Essek had never heard Yasha speak as much as she did as she flipped through the pages of her book. Pulling out flowers and telling him how they had joined her collection. Letting him know about the Nein before they found him. That they grew, but also stayed the same._

Essek dismissed the illusions with a wave of his hand. He was not entirely sure why he had grabbed this one. He had meant to spend the night reviewing an experiment. Instead, he picked up this one he had created on a whim, storing some of his experiences with the Nein inside it.

Still, it solidified his resolve. Things were getting tricky to handle and he would need to come up with a plan for dealing with them soon. Before his friends got caught up in something they lacked the skill to pull themselves out of. 


End file.
